Maybe I Could Be
by The Queen of Double Standards
Summary: The story of Gumi, whose pure-hearted love for Luka never wavered, and Luka, who simply couldn't find a way to accept it. Oneshot.


**Author's Note: For madrox23 :)**

**Maybe I Could Be**

_Is this a natural feeling or  
__Is it just me bleeding  
__All my hopes and dreams  
__In hope that you will be with me?  
_-Anywhere But Here by SafetySuit

"Luka, do you think you could be in love with me?"

Gumi stood under the cherry blossoms, her hand held delicately over her heart, as she spoke those gentle words. Her tender gaze held Luka's, and the woman couldn't pull away from those green eyes. Cherry petals swirled around them, an endless stream of pink cotton candy caressing them on this day, a day that could merit a festival.

_Gumi, where are you now?_

Luka fluttered with the cherry petals, her fickle heart wondering if she'd properly heard the girl, just as it assured her that there was nothing else Gumi could've ever dreamt of saying. Butterfly lips wondered, "Pardon?"

That delicate blossom before her smiled whole-heartedly, no tentativeness in her actions tender actions, and repeated, "Could you be in love with me?"

_Do you still think of me, or have you forgotten the question you asked me on that day?_

There were roses on Luka's cheeks, and the diamonds of her eyes found their way to the ground. She ran a hand through her hair, slowly, softly, and paused at the tips to gently twist the locks. It took her a moment to untangle her fingers, and she fleetingly stated, "I suppose it's possible, but I'm not."

Glistening green eyes, sparkling with nothing more than a simple confession, mouthed the girl's next words. "But could you be?"

_Do you still feel how you felt on that day, in that place?_

Words wisped around Luka with that lavender voice, caressing her gently in the flowering breeze. "I could be in love with you. I could love you and only you, and I could be happy to know that you love me. I could be in love with you, but could you be in love with me?"

_Do you wonder what became of me after everything?_

The wind carried her answer. "I don't know."

"I see." Those same cherry petals spun around her waist as a silken wind brushed her hair back to allow an earnest smiling star to continue sparkling in the sky, be in day or night. "Would you like to be in love with me?"

Honesty laid itself between them, soft cushions they rested on as they whispered to the universe and dreamt of vermillion strings leading them forward. "I would like to be in love. I don't know if you're the one I want to love, though."

_Gumi, who is loving you now?_

"Am I allowed to be in love with you, then? Because I'd like to be in love with you. There's nothing I want more."

There was no pause, even if there was one, because their conversation had been fated for this moment, and no ruptures or tears would appear in that moment to bring way for sapphire tears. "And are you in love with me, then?"

She faintly twisted of her head, one way and then the next, as her hair turned into waves in the ocean. "No, but I want to be, and I could be. If you'll let me."

Luka's were a skeptic's eyes, uncertainty decorating the strawberry cake as delicacy formed words. "If you feel that way, shouldn't you be in love with me already?"

_Is someone loving you now in the way that I never could?_

It was a dreamy, almost wistful gaze that looked to Luka then, smiling so sweetly and so lovingly, even if love was not yet present. "I suppose that's true, but, at the moment, I can only say how I want to feel, how I _could_ feel. It's not as though I want to feel this was about anyone, either, or that it could be just anyone. It's you I want to love, and you that I could love."

"Your view on love is a little distorted, I think. I'm not sure you could ever really love me, Gumi, no matter how you've illusioned yourself."

_Those cherry blossoms that day, were they an illusion too?_

"You think so?" The hand that had been on her heart lifted to the sky's own heart. Luka didn't know what she was reaching for, but her mind trailed that hand for the red string on her pinky. Where was it leading? She tiptoed her gaze along it to see if it reached her own, but she couldn't tell. "I think it's quite realistic, pragmatic even. We must choose to fall in love, or we'd never truly fall for someone, so why can't I decide to love you, or you decide to love me?"

Luka's face filled with a mist as she stated, "It's really only loneliness, after all. That's why we fall in love."

Gumi let her hand fall back to earth, but her eyes were still in heaven as she met Luka's gaze once more. "That may be true." She smiled a little more, innocent charm beckoning the dragon and phoenix forward so easily that anything she said might have been the truth. "Aren't you lonely, Luka? Couldn't you be in love with me?"

_Do you still remember that loneliness?_

Sincerity in feathered words, breathing in slowly and swiftly, flowed to Gumi. "I don't know."

She coaxed the dragon and phoenix, petting them gently as she looked to Luka with those kind eyes. "Being lonely sucks, doesn't it? We don't have to be lonely if we don't want to, Luka."

_Is that loneliness gone for you, Gumi, or do you still feel it today?_

Then, the final words sounded from Luka's tentative lips. "I'm sorry."

_I could have been in love with you, Gumi. If I met you again today, I'd fall in love with you in an instant._

Gumi smiled then and replied, "I understand," before she disappeared into the sweetness of that cotton candy storm, leaving Luka alone in the cherry blossoms.

_I wish I could undo it. I wish I could see you again. I truly am sorry, Gumi, that I never gave it a chance._

_Where are you now, Gumi, because I'll come to you. I know my answer now. I don't want to be here when you're not here. Each day, I'll continue waiting under those cherry trees for you to come back. I'll continue waiting on a love that will never be or that may one day be. And when that day comes when it could be, Gumi, I'll tell you the truth as I know it now: I could be in love with you, and you're the one I want to be in love with._

**Author's Note: I tried something new with this. I'm not sure how I feel about it. In any case, hope you all enjoyed it! Thanks for reading! Oh, also, I was trying to use softer words and euphony and such, so let me know if that had any effect if you have a chance to review. -stares at story again- I dunno, I have mixed feelings on this one. Anyway, lemme know what you think if you have the chance!**


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